The “Peace Council” plan for the Gaza Strip is moving towards a fundamental change in the implementation mechanism, based on abandoning the model of disarmament and Israeli withdrawal in a gradual and parallel manner, and moving instead to a more decisive equation: removing all weapons from the Strip first, then withdrawing the Israeli army completely, with an American threat to give Israel broader international support for the use of force if the Hamas movement does not adhere to the plan.
According to a report by journalist Itamar Eichner on the Israeli “ynet” website, this shift comes after the talks held by US Special Envoy Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Donald Trump, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in addition to his meeting with senior Hamas officials, in an attempt to advance the process of rebuilding the Gaza Strip.
According to the data, the “Peace Council” intends to move from the gradual model that was based on Hamas and the rest of the armed factions handing over their weapons in stages, in parallel with gradual withdrawals of the Israeli army, to a single process during which all weapons will be removed from the Gaza Strip, followed by a complete Israeli withdrawal.
A Peace Council official said that moving to this model “will reduce the amount of risk” for the countries participating in the process.
He added: “We want complete disarmament without any bargaining on this issue, and we do not intend to allow any maneuvers of any kind.”
He continued: “What is meant is an actual, real, complete and rapid disarmament. We are not dealing with speculation. If Hamas disarms, this is excellent, and if it does not, then Israel will have international political cover to do so by force.”
Kushner left Israel after his meeting with Netanyahu, but before his departure he gave an interview from Jerusalem to the American Fox News network, during which he explained that if things go according to plan, it may be possible to record progress in Gaza within one month, with the hope of starting the process of removing the weapons and also achieving progress in closing part of the many tunnels in the Strip.
Fox News reported that Kushner placed before Hamas what it described as a “decisive ultimatum,” based on respecting the agreements it signed and disarming it. Otherwise, the Israeli army will implement this by force and “finish the mission.”
“It will take time before we can say whether the 15-point road map will be implemented,” Kushner said.
He added: “If they do not act in accordance with their commitments, everyone will see that they are not sincere about peace, and then Israel will receive much greater support from the United States and from other countries to go and finish the mission properly.”
Kushner also discussed his meeting with senior Hamas officials in Egypt, a meeting that sparked criticism from Netanyahu as well as from the Palestinian Authority.
“They said all the right things, but it is clear that it is very, very difficult to trust an organization that has committed so many atrocities. We had a good meeting, so we will give them a chance to act,” he said.
Kushner also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog during his visit.
Netanyahu held a 4-hour meeting with Kushner, who arrived in Israel with the aim of launching the Gaza reconstruction process.
The meeting began with a closed bilateral meeting between Netanyahu and Kushner, before they were later joined by the head of the “Peace Council,” Nikolai Mladenov, along with Tony Blair and other representatives of the council.
According to an Israeli political official, the issues of Lebanon and the West Bank were not raised during the expanded meeting, while it was not clear whether the two issues were raised during the bilateral meeting between Netanyahu and Kushner.
During the talks, the two parties agreed that the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would not begin without the disarmament of Hamas throughout the Strip.
An Israeli official said that Netanyahu demanded that the first step be to hand over the movement’s weapons with the aim of destroying them to the commander of the International Stabilization Force in Gaza, General Jasper Jeffers, with the operation being carried out under American supervision.
An official in the “Peace Council” confirmed these data, and said, “Israel presented its security fears and concerns in a professional manner, and the Council takes this into great consideration.”
He added: “Everyone agrees on the ultimate goal: the complete disarmament of Hamas and the end of its rule, the complete disarmament of Gaza, and only after that a complete Israeli withdrawal.”
He concluded by saying: “The trend during the meeting was positive, and there is a mutual desire to give this path a chance.”
Thus, the proposed plan for Gaza moves from the “step by step” equation to an attempt to resolve the arms issue at once before any comprehensive Israeli withdrawal, which makes the success of the reconstruction path directly linked to the implementation of disarmament, and places the option of using force again at the heart of the plan if the political path falters.
